When the Boss Works Long Hours, Must We All?

How to Convey That You Are Working Hard Without Pulling All-Nighters

Some hard-working employees have an even harder-working boss who is the last to leave the office. Work & Family columnist Sue Shellenbarger joins Lunch Break with tips for conveying that you're good at your job, even if you leave early. Photo: Getty.

The problem: Every night, your workaholic boss is still glued to the computer when you need to leave. How to go home without looking like a slacker?

Should you sneak out, hoping to avoid a six o'clock showdown in the hall? Guiltily apologize, promising to be on email all night? Or just walk straight toward the door in the most professional way you can?

ENLARGE

Do Pitch In When You Can | Even if you choose not to match your boss's long hours every night, it's wise to work late during crises or when a major project deadline is looming. Hint: Extra evening hours may gain more recognition than extra hours at dawn in an empty office.
Linzie Hunter

Many hard-working employees have an even harder-working boss who toils late into the night. Career coaches and employees who have been there say the first priority should be conveying that you are still working hard—and good at your job. That requires communicating clearly and frequently about your progress and results. Ideally, you want to figure out what the boss really needs and deliver it consistently enough that your hours become a non-issue.

Many employees assume managers value people for working day and night, and workplace trends support that belief: Two-thirds of workers are putting in much longer hours on the job than five years ago, according to a poll of 325 employees last fall by Right Management, Milwaukee, a talent and career-management company.

ENLARGE

Don't Fake It | Throwing your coat over your chair as if you are there but just stepped away for a minute could backfire if you really leave. Colleagues might waste valuable time running around trying to find you.
Linzie Hunter

But before you get too hung up on work hours, check your assumptions about what the boss wants, says Cali Williams Yost, chief executive officer of Flex + Strategy Group, a Madison, N.J., training and consulting firm. Managers work long hours for a variety of reasons: It may be a personal habit or preference, or perhaps they just don't want to go home. "People make way too many guesses about managers' expectations that are just wrong," Ms. Yost says.

Bosses are often taken aback by employees' focus on their schedules. Betty Enyonam Kumahor often works 14-hour days, emailing and calling contacts around the world. "My teams started tracking how many hours they thought I slept each night, based on my email 'send' times," says Ms. Kumahor, a regional managing director in Atlanta for ThoughtWorks, a software-development company. "They asked me jokingly, 'Do you ever sleep?' " She assured employees she would stop sending so many late-night and early-morning emails so they didn't have to extend their hours to respond.

When managers focus on employees' work hours, they are often looking for reassurance on other fronts: that their subordinates are meeting deadlines; that they can be reached when needed, and that they aren't creating extra work for colleagues, Ms. Yost says.

Work & Family Mailbox

Rich Gee's boss on a former job took him aside and criticized him for leaving the office at 5 p.m., says Mr. Gee, a Stamford, Conn., executive coach. The manager acknowledged that Mr. Gee was meeting deadlines and delivering good work; he arrived at the office at 6:30 a.m., two hours before his co-workers. The boss seemed nervous, however, that Mr. Gee wouldn't be available when needed. Mr. Gee said he could be reached 24/7 by cellphone, and pointed out that he always responded quickly to emergency requests.

He continued to leave the office at 5 p.m., but updated his boss often on his progress and results and checked in every evening before he left. In time, he says, his boss "saw that it wasn't hours that mattered—it was how hard I worked."

ENLARGE

Do Check Your Assumptions About What the Boss Wants |Those predawn emails may reflect your boss's personal habits, rather than an expectation that everyone work then. To find out, ask a mentor for advice or have a broader conversation with your boss about how you're doing and what she expects.
Linzie Hunter

One key to Mr. Gee's solution: healthy communication. Employees should sit down with their bosses and ask them to define job objectives and time lines for reaching them, says Pat Katepoo, the Kaneohe, Hawaii-based owner of WorkOptions, a consulting firm. Then "look for natural times to communicate about your progress, when you have a staff meeting or you're walking by or writing an email," says Ms. Katepoo.

There are many ways to project a hard-working image. If a manager speaks about a project in an intense, focused way, answer with similar intensity, acknowledging its importance and repeating the deadline, says Anne Brown, an advertising executive who has written about how young employees can deal with workaholic bosses in a book, "Grad to Great," and on a website she co-founded, GradtoGreat. Manage time well in one-on-one meetings, moving quickly through your agenda, adds Ms. Brown, of Kansas City, Mo. And, of course, be prepared to work long hours during a crisis or busy season, or when a major project deadline is looming.

In some cases, shifting your work hours can help. At companies where managers focus on face time, employees who work 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.—when more people are present—are more likely to get noticed than those who work 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Executive coach Michael Melcher was told in a previous job at an investment bank that "I wasn't working long enough hours," he says. "I started coming in later and staying later," he says. "A couple of months later, my boss said, 'It hasn't gone unnoticed that you're putting in additional hours.' "

Faking a presence at the office, however, doesn't work. Throwing your coat over your chair as if you just stepped away, then leaving for the day, is likely to backfire, Ms. Yost says. Colleagues will "think you're there and run around like crazy people trying to find you."

ENLARGE

Don't Complain | Whining that you're working too hard won't go over well with the boss or colleagues. If you want to discuss your hours with your boss, start on a positive note, and propose solutions that reflect your boss's needs, too.
Linzie Hunter

Another nonstarter, says Mr. Melcher, an executive coach with Next Step Partners, New York, is "being a whiny complainer, with a lot of exasperated sighs, saying you're working your fingers to the bone. Nobody wants to hear that."

In some professions, working long hours is unavoidable. Certain firms' cultures breed intense competition and long hours among new hires, says Julie Cohen, a Philadelphia career and personal coach. Others have unwritten cultural rules, such as, "Nobody leaves the office before the boss leaves," she says. It is wise to prove yourself on the job for at least six months and ask a mentor for advice before exploring shorter hours, Ms. Cohen says. "You might be stepping into a minefield if you don't understand the ins and outs of the organization."

To get the most out of a negotiation about hours, Mr. Melcher says, think in advance about the boss's needs, and bring specifics documenting your own performance. Start on a positive note, talking about what's going well. Ask what the boss expects of employees when it comes to work hours and responding to email. To propose solutions, Mr. Melcher recommends the "yes…and" technique: Affirm the boss's point, and then state your own. For example: "Yes, I want you to be able to rely on me after hours. And since I have young twins, it is important to me to be home between 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. and spend that time with family. I could respond to you between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. How does that sound?"

Such conversations can open a dialogue—or expose a brick wall. When project manager Ashanti Stanford raised the issue with a boss at a previous job, the manager rolled her eyes and sighed. "The expectation was, 'I have to work these hours, so why are you complaining?' " Ms. Stanford says. She has since moved on to a job with better hours.

This is an interesting, well-written piece, as all your work is, but I think it misses one important point. You assume that all those managers putting in 14-hour days are normal folks who are actually working hard because they are dedicated and want to do a good job. That’s a very nice sentiment but, in my experience, a lot of managers work long hours—and may pull their staffs into doing the same thing—for far less admirable reasons. I discussed four of them in today's post on The Next Phase Blog at: http://aknextphase.com/?p=2131

First day on a new job an engineer came to me, shook my hand, and said something like "I work 40 hours a week. You'll get more out of me in 40 hours than from anyone else here, probably from anyone who ever worked for you. I'll work more if it's necessary, but not for show. I hope that's suitable; if not, let me know and I'll find another job."

He proved to be extraordinary, brilliant, a corporate treasure and delight to know and work with, so valued that no one, absolutely no one ever questioned his hours.

My first engineering job, everyone was expected to come in on Saturday mornings. But nobody worked, they played cards, read magazines, talked hobbies. I asked what the point was; the answer was "the boss likes to see the parking lot full on Saturdays." The 200 acre site where that company once stood is a field of concrete and weeds.

Long ago, a boss "casually" mentioned to me that "everyone" noticed I was working somewhat less overtime than anyone else on our staff. I said yes indeed, and I that was extremely grateful to the company for the hundreds of dollars it had spent for the in-house time-management courses I'd taken over the years. That training was truly paying off, and everyone on our team should be encouraged to attend it.

One of the trainers had told the class, "Why do we study time management? Because nobody on his death bed ever says, 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office.' "

Article: Others have unwritten cultural rules, such as, "Nobody leaves the office before the boss leaves," she says. It is wise to prove yourself on the job for at least six months and ask a mentor for advice before exploring shorter hours, Ms. Cohen says. "You might be stepping into a minefield if you don't understand the ins and outs of the organization."--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you work for a Japanese company (example) on the west coast, yes the Japanese staff are going to stay late...but not necessarily for "cultural" reasons. They are waiting for their colleagues in Japan to get to work (time difference) and discuss business. This doesn't necessarily mean that non-Japanese staff have to hang around till all hours of the night.

Part of your responsibility as a manager is to set expectations for your team around performance. If we have a couple weeks ahead where there is going to be more work, I communicate that in advance, I don't just expect people to 'not have plans'.

I work a lot (usually an early start, earlier finish) but have explained to my team that as long as their work is getting done and they are responsive to requests, I could not care about their schedule. Big role of the manager here- its not just on employees to initiate what is probably an awkward conversation.

Also, given the economic pressure many businesses are under, letting people have flexible schedules (assuming there is performance) is a way to get 'around' what are lower than COLA raises.

As I've said in the past, this paints a very lopsided picture that what the company says - goes; that the company makes all the rules since they provide the paycheck.

Well, it is a two way street, presumably. There was a reason the employee was hired. they're not slaves. Expecting 10 hour days is intrusive and rude and probably bespeaks a management problem more than a need to actually get work done. Maybe they need to hire more people.

I'm one of those bosses, but not the extreme case. The fact is that I have more to do than I can get done in a normal work day. I don't have a problem with my employees leaving on-time or even early as long as the work gets done, the customers are taken care of, and they keep the rest of the office informed. The challenge becomes to set a work culture tone that matches the needs of the company. In my company we have peeks ("storms") and valleys ("droughts") of work transactions. I need employees that can flex to burn the candle when needed and then relax a bit when it is not. But if I allow them to relax too much, they will dump their frustration on me when the job requires them to put the time in. So I do put a bit of tension in the air for how much time people are actually working. It helps manage their expectations for what the job is and requires on a regular basis.

It is just like a sports team... if you play too relaxed when the opponent is easy, you will pick up some bad habits that will ensure more difficulty times with more challenging games.

In small businesses, the boss has to pull the slack for the "drama queens" that cannot make it in for work or leave early because, of some poo pooh problem they have. When the boss has to leave for a minute or two to get a coca-cola these same prople cannot even answwer the phone....

I really enjoyed the part of the article about "face time". I once had a boss just like the one described. He was fixated on who stayed late, assuming that this meant they were putting in more hours. The employees who he always bragged about putting in more hours simply came in later and stayed later.

These situations can get really ridiculous. In that same company, all the department heads seemed to be vying for the position of being able to say that more of their staff were still in the office after 5PM than some other department head. We would see some of these VP's coming around after 5PM trying to nonchalantly look to see who was still there in another department. We used to call it "bed check". It was so childish.

Thankfully, I now work for a company where the work is expected to be done--period. The hours don't matter. If I have to, I can work from home--no problem. It's a far more professional, and grown up, environment.

I am surprised that so many readers seem to accept the premise that 10+ hours a day in the office is either necessary or desirable! I don't buy it. My first boss, when I was a 21-year-old Ensign in the USCG, stopped at my desk one day at about 2 PM and asked what I was doing. When it emerged that I really had nothing to do at that time, he said "Go home! You're an officer! There will be plenty of occasions when you may have to work late. We do not work by the clock." That great man gave me the best leadership and management lesson I ever received.

In my businesses, performance is based upon deliverables and results. It also helps that none of my workers are "employees" anymore, but rather hired as independent contractors. Many of my managers may only see some workers a couple of times a week for status reports and giving assignments. It's all about the end product meeting standards, and coming in on time. The old clock-punch culture is slowly eroding away. Good.

Getting the work done and doing it well is what counts. Micromanaging employees and focusing on arrival and leave times is counterproductive. Hire the right people, give them what they need to do their jobs efficiently and well, and get out of their way.

I worked for a firm where you were judged by how late you stayed at the office, not by when you arrived. Easy for me because I am more of a night owl anyway. However, I then moved to a firm where the opposite was true. People left by 6 pm at the latest but arrived as early as 5-6 am. I didn't pick up on that in time and was always criticized because I came in "late". Since I am useless at 6 am, it was a no-win situation and I ended up leaving.

From my experience, many bosses often work long hours because they are micromanagers or toxic managers. They are spending so much time micromanaging or screwing with their people that they don't have enough time during the normal working day to get their own job done. When I worked in leadership or management jobs, since I trusted my people to get their missions accomplished, and didn't screw with them, I worked late only on occasion, for operational reasons. And if you are a leader, not a boss, you monitor the hours your people put in at work. While everyone will need to work late on occasion, you take action if late hours are happening all the time. The work will get done. Burned-out good people are hard to replace. And lastly, we should all work to live, not live to work. I know of perhaps one person who will go to his grave wishing he'd spent more time at the office. And this guy was the most toxic boss I ever had.

Absolutely. As a software engineer I learned way back in the 1970's that after about 9-10 hours or so my ability to type dropped off pretty dramatically. Extra hours for a short period is time work fine but if the project is requiring long hours for weeks/month on end then it was mismanaged pretty badly (even at the proposal stage) early on.

I was called into consult on a satellite project in 2011 that was behind and the at first meeting with the lead software engineer I saw a cot in his office. Not a good sign. The project went on in a chaotic fashion with lots of re-work, re-design until our part was finished 20 months later. If they had stopped and regrouped for only a couple of months they would still be able to make the same launch date.

I don't know how many training sessions I've attended that talked about good time management. It sounds like too many folks have issues with this. It's important to manage your time, get your work done and go home to the family. Work/life balance should be a competency for more of these firms.

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